Burlington, Iowa - The Bowling Green Hot Rods (Class-A/Tampa Bay Rays) were unable to spoil the home opener for the Burlington Bees (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim), as the Bees topped the Hot Rods 3-0 on Tuesday night. Blake Snell made his first start of the season, and he struck out seven batters but picked up the loss.

Snell and Burlington starter Elliot Morris (1-0) were locked in a pitcher's battle all evening. The Washington natives combined to strikeout 14 batters and allowed just 2 hits. Morris did not issue a free pass in his five innings of work, and he didn't allow a Hot Rod reach scoring position after the first inning. The Burlington bullpen followed up Morris by tossing four innings of shutout baseball to help seal the shutout.

The bats for both teams were silent until the bottom of the fifth. Michael Shannon started the rally with a single through the right side. Ranyelmy Mendoza then drew a walk to move him to second base. Following a pitching change, Bemboom tripled into the right-center field gap, clearing the base paths putting the Bees up 2-0.

Burlington added an insurance run in the seventh. With Bemboom aboard at first base, Erick Salcedo moved him to third base with a single to left field. Those setup the sacrifice fly by Kody Eaves which stretched the lead to 3-0.

The Hot Rods were able to bring the tying run to the plate in the eighth, but Alan Busenitz stopped the rally. As a result of his eighth and ninth inning performances, Busenitz picked up his first save of the season.

Bowling Green will play game two of their three-game series with the Bees on Wednesday night. Jake Faria was impressive in the Hot Rods' win on Opening Night, and he will take the mound for the second time this season. Fans can follow the action on 1340 WBGN - The Ticket, or by listening at BGHotRods.com. The pre-game show gets underway at 6:15 p.m., and first pitch is slated for 6:30 p.m.

###

Hot Rods Baseball - It's Just #Funner

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.